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Research/Scientific Misconduct
Misconduct in Research,
Scholarly Work and Creative Activity at the University is covered
in UA Board of Regents policy (P10.07.06)
and regulations (R10.07.06).
According to UA Board of Regents Regulation R10.07.06:
“Misconduct” includes
fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other practices
that deviate from ethical standards and practices commonly
accepted within the academic and scientific community for proposing,
conducting, or reporting research, scholarly work, or creative
activity. Honest error or honest differences in analysis, interpretation
or judgments of data will not be considered to be instances
of misconduct.
UAF faculty, staff
and students are expected to abide by federal laws and regulations,
university policies and regulations, sponsor guidelines, and
accepted codes of professional ethics and conduct in their research
endeavors. It is the responsibility of all university personnel
to report instances of research/scientific misconduct to the
appropriate university official. This helps protect
the reputation of UAF and ensures continued access to sponsored
funds (i.e. grants and contracts) for all university researchers.
Reporting
The scope of research/scientific misconduct
is limited to fabrication, falsification and plagarism. Misconduct
may occur in publications, posters, presentations, funding proposals,
agency reports, etc. Allegations of research/scientific misconduct
should be directed to the UAF Provost.
General timelines and procedures for handling misconduct allegations
are described in the UA Board of Regents Regulations (R10.07.06).
C.K. Gunsalus provides a thoughtful step-by-step
review of the decision making process to follow when you suspect
research misconduct in her article "How to blow the whistle
and still have a career afterwards" (Science and Engineering
Ethics 4: 51-64). Note: Although Gunsalus
stresses the importance of getting the facts straight and knowing
where the supporting documents can be found, this should not
be taken to mean that the whistleblower is responsible for conducting
the misconduct inquiry or investigation.
Disputes outside the limited scope of research/scientific
misconduct (i.e. violations of the UAF
Faculty Statement of Professional Ethics) must be
handled through the appropriate faculty or staff union, ASUAF
or university governance processes. Contact UAF Human Resources
for more information on filing a formal grievance.
Academic Misconduct (Academic Honesty)
Fabrication, falsification and/or plagarism
in submitted course work consitute academic misconduct rather
than research/scientific misconduct. These and other types of
student misconduct should be handled through
the Dean of Students office. Refer to the UAF
Code of Student Conduct for examples of prohibited conduct
and standards of behavior.
Reporting
UAF has established processes and procedures
for handling student grievances, complaints and disputes. A
complete guide to these procedures, are contained in Regents
policy and regulation. Copies of these procedures
are available in the Dean of Students office, Wood Center, on
the University web page (http://info.alaska.edu/ua/bor/regulation/9r/r09-02.html),
and the library.
Whistleblower Protections
All UAF employees are protected against
reprisal due to good faith allegations as required by state
and federal regulation. Students are protected against reprisal
based on good faith allegations by institutional policy.
- Students are protected from
reprisals arising from good faith reporting under Board of
Regents policy (P09.01.09).
- Employees are guaranteed
protection from reprisal due to good faith allegations by the
Alaska Whistleblower Act (AS
39.90.100-150) - see chapter 39.90 Miscellaneous Provisions,
Article 2, "Protection for Whistleblowers"
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